Parents have significant influence on children's activity level

Only 7% of Canadian children accumulate the recommended public health guideline of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) each day (Colley et al., 2011).

A big part of influencing children’s activity level is the amount of encouragement and importance that the parents place on the activity level of their children.  Registering them into different organized sports and or activities is a popular way to ensure and encourage activity. Of course in order to do this, there has to be the accessibility of both what is available and if it is affordable.

Unfortunately the emphasis and importance of “active free play” - unstructured physical activity that takes place outdoors - has decreased by 14% since 2000.  Parents need to be more actively involved in ensuring that children engage in more outdoor activity after school, on the weekends and during lunch and recess breaks.  The idea that safety becomes an issue can be addressed by promoting children playing in groups of two or more in a safe area away from traffic, for example,  parks, outdoor skating rinks and tobogganing hills.  

Another recommendation might be setting up regular play-dates with neighbourhood and/or friends’ children and take turns chaperoning.

Trying more active games at home other than video or computer games which mostly involve only sitting. Get the whole family involved in activity. Try bowling, go for a walk,  build a snowman. The more active the parents tend to be and the more they place importance on regular activity, the more inclined the children will get on board.

Alberta Centre for Active Living

Corinne Cutler is an Exercise Specialist at the Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network.

Craving Change™ - March Workshop

A How-to Workshop for changing your relationship with food.

Have you ever wondered?

•  "Why do I have absolutely no will power with food?"
•  "Why do I eat when I'm upset?"
•  "I know what I'm supposed to be eating, but why can't I just do it?"

By attending this workshop, you will be able to:

• Understand why you eat the way you do.
• Change your thinking; change your eating.
• Comfort yourself without food.

Program Eligibility: 18 years and older
Class duration: 2.5 hours, once per week for 3 weeks

When: March 7th, 14th and 21st
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Location: Primary Care Network office - Leduc

Cost: $10 (course materials and workbook)

For program information and registration, please contact us at the Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network.

780-986-6624.

Prescription to Get Active - 2 more partners!

We are thrilled to announce two new partners in the Prescription to Get Active Program:

Devon Total Fitness
Arctic Spas Recreation Complex (Thorsby)

Patients can now receive a complimentary 1-month pass to these facilities with a completed Prescription to Get Active. New prescription pads including Devon Total Fitness and Arctic Spas Recreation Complex contact information have been delivered to our member clinics in Devon and Calmar. Please note that these facilities will accept prescription written in Leduc and Beaumont as well.

For more information the Prescription to Get Active program, please visit our website www.lbdpcn.com or our Prescription to Get Active blog.

50 Day Healthy You Challenge

The staff at the LBD PCN are walking the talk and are participating in a 50 Day Healthy You Challenge!


This challenge expands on those habits we gained (and hopefully retained!) from our 50 Day Activity Challenge that we participated in last spring and then takes it to the next level. To qualify for this challenge, each staff member must participate in moderate to brisk, structured activity at least 30 minutes a day for 50 days. This can include anything from swimming, weights, cardio, etc. for 30 continuous minutes. Yes, walking around the neighbourhood for 30 minutes counts! NO, grocery shopping for 30 minutes does not count! Vacuuming or dusting does not count. This must be a planned physical activity above and beyond your regular, daily activity.

Staff must ALSO select one specific food related challenge to accomplish each day. For example:

• Eliminate coffee for the entire 50 days
• No take-out food for the entire 50 days
• Drink 32 ounces of water each day
• Eat X number of fruits/vegetables a day (7-10 is recommended)
• Eat breakfast everyday within 2 hours of waking

These were just suggestions. Each staff member choose their own goal and it had to be something more specific than “lose weight.” Our LBD PCN Dietitian offered advise to each staff member who needed some help deciding on an appropriate and realistic goal for themselves. Here are some of the food challenges our staff selected:

• Eliminate pop/soda
• Eliminate popcorn/chips/nachos
• Eat breakfast within 2 hours of walking
• Add an additional 2 servings of vegetables each day
• At least 7 servings of fruits/vegetables a day

This challenge is run on the honour system; our staff is keeping track of their own activity/food challenge with stickers on a poster in the lunchroom for everyone to see.

This was our sticker board from our challenge last spring. Everyone loved the stickers!

Within the 50 day period, each staff member may miss up to 8 DAYS and still qualify to win the challenge. When someone missed a day of 30 minutes of the activity OR food challenge, they had to place an X on the board. To be clear, BOTH the activity and food challenge must be met each day in order to receive a sticker. If a staff member misses more than 8 days within the 50 day challenge, they are disqualified.

To provide a extra bit of motivation, besides the obvious health benefits of this challenge, each staff member paid an entry fee is $20 and the winner of the challenge will win it ALL! We have 15 staff members participating which gives us a pot of $300! At the end of the 50 days, all participants who qualify will have their name entered into a draw and one name will be pulled at random. That person will win the entry fees!

Our LBD PCN staff started the 50 Day Healthy You Challenge on January 21st and it will finish on March 11th.

This is a great workplace challenge and we encourage you to challenge your own coworkers to a 50 Day Challenge as well. What a great way to keep some of those New Year's Resolutions going and it is a great way to start a healthy habit that each person can build on after the challenge is over.

Winter Walk Day

Winter Walk Day is almost upon us!  On Wednesday, February 6, 2013, lets all get outside and get moving.  Whatever you are able to do for physical activity; walk, skate, ski, dance or even skip, it doesn't matter! Get the whole family, office or school involved and get up and get moving. 

If you are heading out for a walk then here are some tips to stay warm:

• Listen for the windchill index with the weather forecast. The index likens the way your skin feels to the temperature on a calm day. For example, if the outside temperature is -10°C and the wind chill is -20, it means that your face will feel as cold as it would on a calm day when the temperature is -20°C
• Dress in breathable layers to keep warm and avoid overheating
• Wear a hat. Most of your body heat is lost through your head.
• Wear warm, waterproof boots, roomy enough to allow wiggle room for your toes.

The temperature for Wednesday in the Leduc/Beaumont/Devon area is calling for a high of -2 and a low of -13 so it should be a good day to get outside.  Leduc apparently is in the top 10 communities in Alberta to register for the event! The Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network has registered our staff for the event.  Get on board with your group and visit the website to register:

Winter Walk Day 

The City of Leduc will be hosting a Winter Walk Day event at Alexandra Park on February 6th from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm;  weather permitting, shinny and skating will be taking place on the pond. A walking group will gather in Beaumont at the S&D Aqua-Fit Centre at 11:00 am. In Devon, the Riverview Middle School students and teachers will be talking a walk around town.

Whatever it is you participate it, the point is to get outside, get active and celebrate winter.

Corinne Cutler is the LBD PCN Exercise Specialist and will be leading the PCN in our Winter Walk activity on Wednesday. Join us at noon at Alexandra Park in Leduc for some fun in the fresh air.